


The Irken Stars

by XxTrashyAlienScumxX



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Adult Dib (Invader Zim), Adult Zim (Invader Zim), Adventure, Alien Cultural Differences, Alien Culture, Alien Mythology/Religion, Alien Planet, Alien Technology, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Space, Ancient Technology, Confused Dib (Invader Zim), Dib & Zim Friendship (Invader Zim), Dib and Gaz are Siblings (Invader Zim), Dib is Of Legal Age (Invader Zim), Dork Dib (Invader Zim), Eventual Romance, Gaz Being Gaz (Invader Zim), Good Sibling Gaz (Invader Zim), Graboids (Tremors), Height Differences, Irkens (Invader Zim), Irkinraceundiscovered, MAYBE ZaDR - Freeform, Multi, Oblivious Professor Membrane, Older Dib (Invader Zim), Other, Outer Space, Primitive Culture, Professor Membrane Tries to Be a Better Parent, Traditions, Tribal, Zim and Dib never met, irk, space traveler - Freeform, traditionalirken
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:54:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24812647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XxTrashyAlienScumxX/pseuds/XxTrashyAlienScumxX
Summary: Dib is a space traveler in his 20's just trying to live that exciting slice of life. Exploring the unknown possibilities the universe holds. Discovering planets, aliens, along with their various cultures, and even stopping by alien food trucks. He's been on the space road since he finished school. Hasn't seen his family or any human for 5 years now and honestly. He couldn't be happier being away from humanity. Even if the road got lonely sometimes.When his sister finally decides to call him and ask him to come for a visit he finally gives in. Unfortunately for him though he has to make an 'unwanted' stop on the nearest planet before getting back to his family.What race did he land upon this time?
Relationships: Almighty Tallest Purple & Almighty Tallest Red, Dib & Zim (Invader Zim), Dib/Zim (Invader Zim), The Almighty Tallest & Zim
Comments: 16
Kudos: 89





	1. Chapter 1

“Happy happy birthday from all of us to you, we wish it was our birthday so we can party to yeh!” The typical birthday song everyone sang at restaurants was being performed by Bloaty's staff today. Cheerful in tone but dead on inside and out as they popped the confetti balloon and blew on the party horns.    
  
Who was it for though? Welp the sweet little child in glasses bouncing happily in his seat waiting to blow out his 7 candles.    
  
“Happy birthday kid.” One of the old waitresses leaned forward to place a birthday hat on the boy while the rest of the staff went back to work. “Blow out your candle and make a wish.” The cheerful tone she had in the song had turned into a tiring tone.    
  
The boy didn’t mind it though as he leaned forward with a smile and closed eyes to blow out his candles.    
  
“Yay! What did you wish for son?” The boys father asked. It was quite obvious he was the father their hair had the same cowlick and they both need glasses. Well it was more goggles for the father or so he preferred. At the moment they sat at the top of his head so his face wasn’t as hidden as it usually was behind the white coat he wore. Today he decided the coat wasn’t necessary so he’d taken it off to show his mechanical arms and nicely built body. His torso was wrapped in a soft velvet black turtle neck with no sleeve with matching pants and nice black suade shoes to compliment the look. His face had a slight stubble and his eyes were were a beautiful golden brown. That was another thing him and his son had in common.    
  
“Yeh DIB what you wishes for?” Dibs sister is two years younger than him. She has purple hair that was long enough to put in a tiny bun at the top of her hair while two small strands fell to the sides of her face. She was always squinting because she refused to wear glasses and since she was too little for contacts she stayed like that. Staring at her game systems she looooved so much. She had on a cute little black dress with purple leggings and nice dress shoes.   
  
“If I tells you guys it might not come trues!” Lastly, we have the birthday boy. Dib. His eyes and his hair were the same as his fathers. Golden brown eyes, small cowlick, and wore glasses because he was too blind to refuse the lenses. Although he did at first. Today he was celebrating his seventh birthday with a space theme. His shirt had aliens on it that matched his black pants sprinkled with stars and his light up sketchers that blinked ufos whenever he walked.   
  
“Well in reality wishing really does nothing, but whatever you say s--”   
  
“I wish to become a space traveler one day!” The birthday boy had a small lisp because of the gap in his teeth from where he recently lost a baby tooth. “Go on adventures into outer space! Discover new planets! And aliens too! Maybe even one day we can ally with the aliens and share planets!! That would be nice... “ The happy child slid back into his seat smiling at the alien on the cake and sighed.    
  
“Ah my poor insane boy.”   
  
“That’s dumb..” Gaz giggled at her father's comment.    
  
Dib didn’t care though. No matter what anyone said. He knew there were more beautiful things out there to explore and he wanted to see it all. To live that life of excitement and bring home something more to show his family that he wasn’t crazy. To open humanity's eyes to the greater beyond… and that’s exactly what he set out to do.

Through the rough years in school he would pull through. Getting a job, gaining great knowledge on the world, learning how to build his own ships and even invented a few things he could use for his space adventures! Nothing was going to stop him from going to explore the universe! So many beautiful things out there waiting to be seen and he wanted to be the one to do it.    
  
So here he was now. In a small cruiser at 28, making his wish come true. Traveling space. Somehow he's managed so far to survive. He’s discovered so many planets and alien races already! Learned a few different alien languages and even picked upon some of their sign languages as well. Because yes… even aliens had human related issues like being mute, deaf, etc.   
  


Recently the adventurer had just discovered foodcourtia and was definitely exhausted from all the excotic foods he discovered humans could eat. So he kicked up his feet on the little foot rest beneath the control panel and lied back with his arms behind his head. “Ah~ Finally… Through all the hell. I made it. I’ve made my wish come true.” He hummed to himself. “Ship. Go on autopilot.”    
  
The ship beeped in response and shifted into a slower pace for the autopilot.    
  
As the ship did that he reached for a small scrap book he’s made for all the great places he's been so far. Some planets were full of vegetation and nothing but. Others were plain rocky and full of acidic lakes or lava. Some were dry planets that were just dry, some were too wet with gods know what, and some had no gravity like the moon. But man did they all have their own beautiful sight. On the more plain rocky planets you could see the planets that sat in the sky next to them while the green planets had outstanding forests and mystical caverns. The green planets had glowing flowers, glowing waters, vines that were actually alive, and interesting wildlife. Fortunately he had been able to take a few memories with him. Of course he wasn’t stupid and checked to see if they were safe enough to take first. So now his scrapbook not only had pictures but bits of nature from each planet to go with it. Whether it’d be just a simple rock, dust, or a flower.    
  
Some of the alien cultures were interesting and most of the ones he seemed to fall upon were very peaceful. Scared at first and maybe even defensive, but once they saw his good intentions they’d take him in as one of their own. They’d bring him food to try and even bless him with jewelry or something they’ve made. But that usually only happened with traditional aliens. Basically the planets that didn’t use much technology to live their life.    
  
Luckily the peaceful cultures had warned him about the worst planets to run across just so he could avoid them when he was back on the road. He’s managed to avoid dangerous planets so far and foodcourtia was kind of in the middle. It wasn’t really a home planet though but more of a sort of rest stop for species on the go. And wowie did some aliens know how to party! Eventually he had run into a planet that was literally Las Vegas for aliens! SPACE VEGAS!! Holodecks, drug dens, bars, casinos, etc. He didn’t stay for long of course, but man did he want to. It was also a little risky running into that planet. There was an addictive aroma in the air that compelled you to stay longer than you should and could keep you there for the rest of your life if you weren’t careful.    
  


With a smile he turned to the next page in his scrapbook. Nothing yet. He’d only had about ⅓ of the book left. And he honestly didn’t want to go back home until he’s finished the book. Originally he wanted to take home two and show off a few of his jars filled with goodies from the other planets but filling this one scrapbook would be good enough for him.    
  
Almost as if on que a small phone hologram appeared on his window indicating a call. “Ooo…” Setting down his book aside, he leaned forward in his seat and tapped on the call. “Hello?~”    
  
“Hey dorkasour. Dad wants to know when your coming home form space camp.” The face that came up was of his little sister all grown up now. She still wore her hair up in a bun but only this time she had bangs with the long strands coming down her sides. And still she refused to wear glasses or contacts. 

  
He sighed deeply and facepalmed. “How many times do I have to say. I AM NOT AT SPACE CAMP. I AM A SPACE TRAVELER.”    
  
“Yeh yeh whatever. He misses you and so do i! So come home soon! We haven't seen you in five years Dib.” Although her tone was annoyed she still managed to sound sincere.    
  
Which made Dib smile a bit. His family actually missed him? Even if they thought he was crazy? Bitter sweet~ “Awe… well since you asked so nicely my dear little sister~” He chuckled. “I’ll see what I can do. I’m not sure how far I am from Earth right now. So i’ll get back to you later alright?”    
  
“Uuuuuughh fine. But you better call back. Take care dummy!”    
  
With that their call ended and Dib was already pulling out his map and checking his coordinates in the ships data.    
  
“Hmm… Ok i’m this far. Then maybe I should be able to get back in… four months? At least… In time for christmas! That would be a nice present right?” He chuckled to himself.    
  
As he was checking his coordinates he hadn’t noticed the small space rock they were headed for. Normally the autopilot was good at dodging those, but unfortunately for him. This time it wasn’t and the minute he realized they were heading right for it. Was a minute too late. Even at a normal speed the thing had managed to take out one of his ships blasters. Which bumped him into another rock that scraped and dented the other side of his ship. There was definitely no saving this ship out in space like this! So he had to pick the closest planet to crash on and hope that he’d be safe. Not only from the landing but from the race he was about to face. 


	2. Curios Creatures

Dib tried his best to get a steady crash once he entered the planet's atmosphere, but it wasn’t easy. Luckily this planet wasn’t green or else he’’d be running into a tree on his way down. There were A LOT of rocky mountains and it oddly looked similar to Mars. Now maybe trees didn’t sound so bad to crash into…    
  
He pulled the lever of the ship to try fly over the mountain peak he was heading for. Luckily he succeeded, but it did however take out the other blaster on his way down. “No! Dammit!” Panicking just a little at the ship screaming warnings and the blasters flying off. This was the first time he had ever dealt with a crash so honestly he didn’t know what else he could do for now other than brace for impact.    
  
And once he did the ship had hid the ground pretty hard leaving a nice hole in the ground skidding across the ground until it hit a nice big rock.When it hit the rock it sent the adventurer flying out the window. He rolled across the dirt for a bit before finally coming to a stop.    
  
Coughing and panting was all he could do for a moment as he tried to gain enough strength to push himself up. He winced a the slight pain in his shoulder and fell back down. “I only had my eyes off the road for a moment… even in space it’s easy to crash into shit.” He mumbled before carefully pushing himself up with the other arm to look at his ship. “Great now I lost my glasses too…” He sighed at the blurry image of his ship and carefully patted around for his glasses. “Dammit… where are they..?” He winced a bit as he tried to move a little more but couldn’t feel them around anywhere. “Whatever… they probably broke on impact anyway…” With that in mind he stood up weakly and tried to make out what he could of the place. “If I could just… find somewhere I can sit. This planet's lighting is so bright.” Looking around some more with the blurry vision he squinted his eyes a bit to see if he could make out anything.    
  
The planet was made of dirt, rocky plains, sulfur lakes, and a few dead trees and plants. Wasn’t much.. And it also seemed so… empty? At least where he was. There was not a creature in sight and it was dead silent. But the view in the sky… was beautiful. “Ok membrane focus. Right now is not the time to admire… we can do that after we find somewhere to pop in my shoulder and put in my contacts.” And just as he gave the land another look his eyes finally made out a blurry cave. It was a little dangerous to be running into a random alien cave, but what else could he do right now?    
  
So he slowly made off to the cave. It wasn’t too far from the ship so that was good. “It’s a little hard to breath on this planet…” He panted a bit. “There’s so much… sulfur.” The more he walked the more he ran out of breath and started coughing again. The air was just a little too dry for him and the sulfur in the air was potent. Eventually his body began to overheat and sweat from pushing his body. The other planets weren’t this hard to live on… maybe this was one of the dangerous planets they warned him about? And that thought had him worrying for a moment as he finally made it to the cave.    
  
And there was only a split second of chirping and slight trilling before passing out on the ground from the heat exhaustion. 

As he fell to the ground in a slump the creature that had been trilling and chirping was hiding behind a rock in the cave. It looked like the aliens that lived on that planet. It was at a height about 4 ft, had soft pastel green skin, and had two thin antennas sitting at the top of its head. So far it seemed amused by the creature passing out on the floor as its antennas leaned forward as if they were trying to reach the scent coming off it. But it was too far.    
  
For a moment the small green critter just watched the being passed out on the floor. Part of it was scared and considering running back into the hole it came out of. But the other part of it really felt bad leaving it there. That poor thing was probably dying!... It crouched behind the rock again as if it was thinking.    
  
….   
  
When it finally came to a decision it popped back up to peek over the rock and see if it was still there. When the critter spotted the other being it cautiously crawled out from behind the rock. Slowly making it way over to the injured creature and released soft comforting chirps not only for them, but for itself as well.    
  
Dib groaned a bit as he stirred a little before dragging himself to sit up against the wall without opening his eyes. He winced and hissed a bit more in pain before falling silent again as he rested on the wall.    
  
At first the alien took a few steps back with heavy breathing at the sight of it moving again, but once it fell silent it took the daring steps once more. Coming closer and closer. And the closer it came the more its fascination over the other grew. And was once fear became curiosity as it dared to climb into its lap to take in the features.    
  
Soft pale skin, soft fur on its head, and luscious pink lips. Seeing the pieces of glass stuck in its skin and fresh wounds all over its body had its little chest aching. This being looked so fragile. What was it doing on this planet? It was surely not going to survive this lifestyle. Being tall would not do any good other than for hunting bigger wildlife and fending off other threatening species. Yet somehow the alien still couldn’t help but be amazed. They nver got any visitors… other than the ones who always tried to hurt them. But this one looked… different. Like maybe it wouldn’t try and hurt them. And that made the aliens big pink eyes glow a lighter shade and sparkle just a bit as it continued to admire the new creature. The aliens' three little claws carefully caressed the rosey cheeks and slowly made their way down to his arms that also seemed to have the fur. How curious. Maybe that’s why it felt so warm. The light fur kept it from freezing?    
  
As the small green critter curiously examined Dib some more. His eyes slowly began to open to see where the soft touch had been coming from. And even with a blurry vision he could still make out a soft small green figure sitting in his lap. Which did slightly startle him.    
  
The sudden jerk and gasp coming from the warm creature had the small critter jumping in fear and leaving a nice bite on his arm.    
  
Dib hissed at the bite and watched as the alien ran away with fearful chirps and whimpers. “Ah… wa-wait! No no no it’s ok. It’s ok… i-i’m sorry…” he panted a bit still finding it a little difficult to breath. He reached over his head as if he was going to scratch his neck to try as an attempt to pop his dislocated joint back in. And luckily it worked. A little painful, but it worked. “Ugh… better.” He sighed with relief before looking over at the blurry rock where the little antennas were peeking out. He weakly stood up again and slowly made his way over to the hidden alien.    
  
When it saw the tal being standing over the rock it cornered itself and growled at him.    
  
The adventurer did his best to give the scared critter a sincere look of apology and compassion. “I’m sorry… here i’ll get down to your height if it makes me less intimidating…” And as promised he did. He was sure the height difference was probably what scared it a little. “I… I didn’t mean to scare you. You honestly startled me a little…” he chuckled a bit as his hand reached out to the alien. IT wasn’t like he was trying to treat it like a cat, but it was all he could do to let it know he wasn’t going to hurt it.    
  
The forgein language and height was indeed what scared him. But the sincere gaze and friendly gestures had the alien reconsidering as it cautiously came closer to the hand reaching out. It gave a soft whimper at the sight of his arm bleeding where he bit. The fear it had was once again replaced, but by concern this time as it gazed him with an apologetic look.    
  
“It’s ok… i’m sure I have a bandage back at my ship..”    
  
It titled it’s head curiously at the words. It honestly couldn’t understand a word he was saying…   
  
“Oh um.. Right. Im still speaking English.. Heh.. Um..” A moment to ponder was what Dib needed as he tapped on his chin. Trying to remember… did any of the other races mention this planet or this race before? Probably? Maybe he should try different languages he’s learned until he’s hit the right one? He learned about 8 alien languages 4 sign languages not including the recent one. They surprisingly weren’t that hard to learn. Well some of them used intense throat sounds, clicking, and other noises. Which is why using the sign language usually helped when he couldn't make the sound. “Um… ok how bout we try different languages until we get to one…”    
  
The alien only blinked at him confused as he went through the various languages. It did recognize some of them, but wasn’t fluent or practiced enough to respond in that language. Until the sign languages came around.    
  
“Well… you don’t know any of these languages?... damn. I-I guess I can try Ir-kien? I think its called?”   
  
The mispronunciation had the alien giggling before correcting the name.    
  
“Irken?! So I found a language you understand? Oh oh ok … um..”   
  
The excitement from the other had the Irken smiling a bit as it watched him trying to communicate through sign language.    
**_  
_ ** _ -Sorry. I not good… so much. Just learned. This.- _   
  


The Irken watched the other struggle with the language, but understood him.    
  
-It’s ok. I apologize for biting you. I am Zim. Leader of the Irken race. I was out hunting when I heard a loud crash and saw you come into the cave. Was that you?-   
  
The fast moving hands and other gestures had Dib blinking a bit confused, but he got the gist of what he was saying.    
  
_ -Oh. Yes. That my ship. I crashed and fell here.-  _   
  
Zim frowned sadly for the other and looked down for a moment before looking up at him again.    
  
-What is your name? What race are you? I would like to help with your injuries, but i’d hate to make it worse by giving you medicine that could kill you.-    
  
“Hmm…” Dib hummed for a second before replying.   
_   
_ _ -My name is Dib. I am a homosapien. Human basically.-  _

He paused as if he was trying to think of how to make out a few words. “Um…”   
  
_ -I usually risk what I eat, drink and use for medicine on other planets. I think I have been through Irken care before on a different planet-  _   
  
Zim paused for a minute as well.    
  
-Interesting..-   
  
As he finished the sign he reached for Dibs arm again and softly caressed the bite before leaning down to give it a small lick.    
  
_ -What doing?!-  _   
  
Dib signed with a confused gaze.    
  
-Zim is trying to heal your wounds. For my people we learned that our own saliva can do wonders sometimes when we are out hunting or just trying to survive in the wild. Maybe it will help your wounds as well?-    
  
Honestly the traveler didn’t know what to think about that. He’d only heard so little about the Irken race, but that was because the other races had said they wanted to respect them by keeping them hidden and unnoticed. Apparently they were a very popular race wanted by many other races that liked to enslave. Only a few Irkens had left Irk and traveled across the galaxy, but even then disguising themselves was very hard on other planets sometimes. It’s unknown why others want to enslave them so badly though…   
  
_ -Does your race have gender? Just curiosity…-  _   
  


-Gender does not matter to us. However the some that do will identify as female with curled antennae, or male with straight antennas while the ones who do not care will pierce their antennae with three rings. For the pronouns he/her/they. Like myself... -    
  
Zims right antennas leaned forward to show off two simple gold rings.    
  
-I like to identify myself as male or they-    
  
_ -Wow.. That’s very interesting.-  _

As Zim took it upon himself to try and heal the humans. The human gazed at his attire.    
  
Zim was wearing nothing but pure white fabrics and bone armor. The white fabric draped just over his shoulders and chest while the rest of his skin was exposed. The other long sheer fabric covered just between the legs from behind and in front. While the bone armor was just a long spine tail with matching bone brace on his wrists. Touching those would be deadly… they looked so sharp. On his neck rested another piece of bone that faded into pointy end just between his chest.    
_   
_ _ -Your bone armor is beautiful-  _

Just Zim finished covering what he could, he pulled away with a shy smile.    
  
-Thank you. I made it myself-   
  
Before Dib could reply a high pitched shriek and growl echoed from outside.It was faraway, but it still was pretty loud. As he turned back to face the Irken he saw the fear in his eyes and his little chest pumping up and down with heavy breathing.    
_   
_ _ -What is that?-  _   
  
-...It is called a shrieker. Or a similar monster would be a Graboids. They are creatures that live in the ground, but are attracted to sound. My people are very feared by them. We’ve almost lost our entire population to these creatures…-    
  
_ -Where are your people? I haven’t seen them around…- _   
  
-We…. We live underground.-   
  
_ -But… why? _ _   
_ Another shriek echoed in the distance making the little Irken panic and breath heavier in fear as it tried to quickly respond.    
  
-I-I can not explain at the moment. But I promise to come back when it’s safe.-   
  
_ -Wait what should I do?- _   
  
-Stay in this cave. Do not make any loud sounds that could attract it. It is a very dangerous animal.-   
_   
_ _ -But wait Zim..-  _   
  
Before he could finish signing he turned to hear another loud shriek. When his gaze came back to find the alien it was gone. He sighed deeply and rested on the wall again. At least now he could put in his contacts. It was still a little hard to breath but it wasn’t deadly. And his wounds well.. They really did feel as if they were healing. They stung and itched a bit like alcohol and peroxide.    
  
Once he put in his contacts he gave his eyes a few blinks and looked around the cave. It was actually very beautiful. There were colorful crystals everywhere and a small stream of sulfur that led to a small lake just outside the cave. Maybe he could try purifying it later to make himself some water.    
  
For now though he would do as the little Irken instructed. 

_ Stay quiet and safe.  _


	3. Strange

Surprisingly Dib had managed to gain a little trust on this planet to risk some sleep. Maybe sleeping would do him good anyway. He never made any noise when he slept; he was as quiet as a mouse. Of course he took his contacts out first even though he had just put them on.    
  
When he awoke several hours later he found himself in a darker cave. Luckily the crystals were warm enough to generate their own light which helped him get on his contacts again. Once they were in he cautiously crawled to the entrance of the cave to look up at the sky. And what he found was an outstanding view of the neighbor planets and bright stars that lit up the sky. “Woah… beautiful.” He sat there gazing at the night sky for a moment.Even during a time like this he could still find a minute to stop and admire the surroundings. But Dibs just always been like that. So.. humble. Even when people were jerks he didn’t care. Because all that mattered was the beauty of life and all the pretty things it gifted us with. If his people were too blind to see then that was on them… he wasn’t going to let them keep him from living this. With that in mind he rested on the wall near the entrance to continue gazing at the sky with a small sigh. “Even if I might be stranded on this planet for a little bit… i’m glad I was able to live my dream. And i’m glad to be here. I do miss Gaz and my dad, but… being here is great.”    
  
Eventually though the gorgeous night sky had come to an end as their little sun came back around to brighten a reddish bluish sky again. The planets were still slightly visible just not as much. That however was when he decided to sneak back to his ship to carefully pull out his emergency stranded kit. Luckily it wasn’t hidden underneath anything so he could just reach through the broken shield window to grab it. When he’d snatched it up he quickly but stealthy made it back to the cave. Fortunately for him the graboid screecher thing was silent which meant it had probably found a better sound to follow.    
  
After finally making it back he began to set up a small camp in the cave. He’d definitely have to go back out and check on the ship later before that thing came back, but for now he needs water. So he went on to set up a small fire, a few light fabrics for a tent and pulled out a little water purifier he made just for trips like this. He really did think of everything didn’t he? “Alright now to check the water. Let’s see what needs to be purified other than the sulfur. He dipped in a spoon to scoop up some water and pour it into a tiny tube beaker attached to a small tablet. This was a tablet he used to identify various liquids from different planets. When he would put the liquid in the tube the tablet would read the components and display them on the screen for him to see what was safe for him to consume and what wasn't safe.    
  
The tablet took a moment to analyze the liquid before pulling up a few things on the screen. Seemed like sulfur wasn’t the only thing in the lake that was toxic but few unknown components were in there as well. Shrugging a bit at the results. “Ah well… to risk it again. I’ll purify it as much as I can then check again.” The process would probably take a little long but at least he’d have some water. He would just have to purify over and over until his tablet showed better results. He did not want to go through the same thing he went through on another planet. It was surprising how trippy those waters could make a human, it was like being on drugs. The thought alone had dib shaking his head and giving a slight shiver. “Nope. Definitely not feeling like tripping out today.”    
  
Once he'd had time with the long process he’d finally come up with enough not entirely clean water to last him a few days. It wasn’t extremely clean, but not exactly deadly either. So it’d have to do. He wouldn’t have had to go through this issue if his water bottles and food hadn’t exploded in the crash.    
  
Meanwhile in the small tunnel the little Irkin had come from the day before had been visited by him again and this time he brought two friends with him. They were both just a few inches taller than him as the helped him carry a small clear box that seemed to be filled with some kind of roast.    
  
On the way up the leader clicked and purred softly to his servants.On the outside it seemed like the Irken language was a little complex, but it came easy to them obviously. However it wasn’t impossible for a human to learn it so maybe hopefully this creature wasn’t really going to harm them… they could teach him how to speak Irken and maybe even ask him to stay and...protect them. It was tall, looked strong, and seemed very intelligent.   
  
“Ok… now when we go up there I want you both to be on your best behavior. It seems to be a very nice creature so far and I would really like for it to help us in our time of need right now.”    
  
“Yes sir…” The servants sadly trilled.    
  
As they approached the entrance of the small tunnel he handed the box off the one the servant to move the rock that blocked the entrance. It was a swell way to blend their entrance into the wall. Fortunately for them Dib had been too distracted by the sounds of the sulfur lake and drinking his water to even hear the rock moving behind him.    
  
The two servants gasped softly at the sight of the human.    
  
“Thank you little Red.” Zim took back the box form his servant before turning to the other. “Purple--”    
  
“Ooooo wow… he’s pretty~” Purple hadn’t even waited for Zim to finish before already trying to step out of the entrance.    
  
“Hey!” The leader chirped a bit annoyed as he quickly reached for his servant to pull him back. “Now listen to me. “Both of yo--”   
  
“It’s so majestic~ And smart~! Look at those fancy tools~” Red purred softly as he leaned a little forward to examine Dib some more.    
  
“He looks so warm too and he’s so tall!!” Purple chirped and creaked excitedly.   
  
“I wanna touch him!” Purple hopped up.    
  
“I WANNA TOUCH HIM TOO!” Red turned to face his leader with excitement.    
  
“NO! Absolutely not! You are not touching him.”   
  
“Awe but you got to touch him!”    
  
“Yeah! You got to lick him!”   
  
“To heal his wounds! He was/is an injured creature that needs care. So I intend to help it as much as I can!”   
  
The two servants groaned sadly and pouted just slightly.    
  
“Well.. at least our king is still humble!”    
  
“Yeah~ King Zim! King Zim!--”   
  
“Red…” Zim gave him a soft look that told him to stop.    
  
“...Sorry..”    
  
‘Alright. Now we will off her him this meal that hopefully he will be able to eat and if it needs more medical care we can bring him that too.”   
  
“Why don’t we just take him down with us?” Reds antenna curved curiously.    
  
“Because… we have to be sure that it isn’t hostile before digging a better tunnel for it. Remember what happened with the last race we thought was humble.”   
  
Red sighed sadly as the memory did come back to him. It was terrible. A lot of their people were slain and if it hadn’t been for the graboids that came by to eat up those few jerks they would have been enslaved too. It was an odd love/hate relationship with those monsters that lived in the walls of the Irkin city.    
  
“Now behave. Both of you. Or i’ll send you back down.” The leader chirped strictly before finally exiting the cave with the two slaves at his heels.    
  
Dib nearly jumped at the sudden appearance they made. Startling both the servants into hiding behind a rock. Zim however had gotten used to it already. Yesterday was different because he didn’t know Dib yet… but now that he had been able to get a little closer he was able to stand his ground _.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ -Geeze… you scared me.-  _ _   
_ _   
_ Dib held his chest still as he looked around the cave to find where they came from but saw no entrance.    
  
_ -Where did you even come from?-  _   
  
Zim slightly giggled at the hidden servants before handing the box to Dib.   
  
Dib took a look at the box before taking it.    
_   
_ _ -What is this?-  _

He asked before opening it to find a freshly made roast. It looked like an odd alien pig with mini slug sides and something that looked like mash potatoes. He was sure though that those were most certainly not going to be potatoes. Another thing he was sure of was having this on a different planet. It smelled and looked similar to the meal he had before. He plopped down on the floor with the meal and looked up at the Irken with a soft smile.    
  
_ -Is this roast boarat?- _   
  
That was the name of the alien pig that ran wild on Irk. It was almost like a big rat and boar or pig breeded. They sounded ugly and awkward, but in reality they were nice creatures and made the cutest squeaks. Unfortunately though like humans.. Aliens had to eat too.    
  
-Yes! You’ve heard of it?-    
  
Zim asked a bit shocked and excited.    
_   
_ _ -I’ve had it on a different planet. I really enjoyed it.-  _ _   
_ _   
_ -Well… I hope you like this one as well. I helped my servants make it.-    
  
Dib had already been tasting a small piece before signing a very grateful thank you.   
  
-You’re welcome. I thought you were hungry so I brought you some.-    
  
Zim smiled before sitting down with Dib as well.    
  
Dib hadn’t been rude though he offered the Irken some anyway. Manners was appreciated on some planets.    
  
Zim shook his head in denial but thanked him anyhow before looking over the cool little inventions Dib had out. While in the background the two servants had peeked over the rock they were hiding behind.    
  
Dib leaned over to looked at the little antennas popping out from the rock behind Zim and set down his half eaten meal and utensils.    
  
-Are those your two little ones that helped you make this?-    
  
Zim looked up a bit confused at the question before turning to find his servants peeking. He gave an awkward sigh and shook his head before turning back to Dib.    
  
-Yes. They are.-   
  
He glanced back over his shoulder to chirp at the others with his antennas.   
  
That was honestly the first time Dib had ever heard any other sound out of the Irkin other than the scared whimpering from yesterday. It was so cute.. And he couldn’t help but smile the more he heard their real language. There seemed to be a lot of different sounds. Maybe it was a split language? There were two versions of the language? One the servants seemed to be clicking and clacking a lot more in return while Zim himself had taken to soft purring, trilling, chirping, and deep throat sounds.    
  
“Now don’t be rude to you two. Come on. I thought you were excited to meet him…” Zim almost sounded like a sweet mother talking to her young. And it was honestly a little adorable.    
  
The two servants looked at each other shyly as their eyes shifted into a littler color. Red had Red eyes that shifted into a light pink while Purple had Purple eyes that shifted into a lilac. In the Irken race their eyes were their form of blushing. The light the shade the more embarrassed, flustered, or shy they were. The darker the shade the more angry they were. 

When Zim had cooed at them again they slowly came out from their hiding spot and came to shyly sit next to their leader.   
  
Dib waved at the shy Irkens and gave them a friendly smile.   
  


Red tilted his head curiously as his antennas curled curiously once more.    
  
“I think that is how humans say hello?” Zim answered the Red silent question.    
  
Red nodded and lifted his little claws to do the same.    
  
On the inside Dib was screaming at how adorable they were. He’d run into many fascinating alien species but never one as adorable and cute as this one.   
  
Purple on the other hand was leaning more onto Zim as he did become a little scared of Dib.    
  
Dibs gaze moved on to Purple.    
  
-Hi…-    
  
He signed slowly just so the alien wouldn’t be spooked more. 

Seeing the slow gesture and friendly gaze had Purple feeling a little more confident as he moved away from Zim and leaned a little closer to let his antennas reach the hand. The poor little appendage was slightly shaking as it came to rest around Dibs finger. When it felt a harmless energy it curled around his finger as a cute hello before pulling away to rest back on his head. However purple himself did not pull away, in fact he got closer.    
  
Zims low growl though had stopped him from moving any further. It was only a growl they could hear though.    
  
The closest Purple had reached Dib was enough for him to catch was almost the same pretty view Zim had of Dib only this time his eyes were open. So Purple got the benefit of seeing those eyes up close first. And wow they were so compelling. Even if they were small they were still pretty! So golden and shiny, the way the sun glared from the water reflected in his eyes was so gorgeous!    
  
Dib slightly blinked at the closeness as he couldn't help but admire back at the big lilac orbs gazing at him with curiosity. And before he knew it the little thing was taking a big risky step to cupping his face. The small claws were so soft and cold an--    
  
The thought was quickly cut off by a big kiss planted on his lip from the risky Irkin and angry chirping that followed afterwards. Zim had ended up standing up to click at them angrily and softly kick them back to the end of the cave where they ran to slip back into the tunnel. Honestly, he had no idea what just happened. One minute he was observing big pretty eyes and the next King Zim was spewing a loud amount of angry chirping and clicking that had brought him back to reality.    
  
He sounded upset, but it was still very cute to Dib.    
  
“Idiots.” Zim shook his head and sighed as he plopped back down in front of Dib.    
  
-I apologize for their behavior. Sometimes they can step over the line.-    
  
-It’s alright.-   
  
Dib giggled slightly.    
  
-They’re cute. I’m honestly a little glad he did that instead of biting me. That would have hurt a lot…-    
  
Zims own eyes shifted into a light color as he remembered yesterdays events.    
  
-Ah yes. I suppose so.-   
  
For a moment they sat there in awkward silence before Dib finally came up with a question.    
_   
_ _ -So.. Do you mind if I ask a little more about your race? I’m quite curious about you lot.-  _   
  
-Sure. What would you like to know?- 

  
_ -Well… why do you live underground?-  _ _   
_   
Zim hummed for a second. Well he should probably tell him if he was going to try and befriend him.    
  
_ -We live underground because… the surface is not safe for us.-  _   
  
-What do you mean?   
  
_ -Well. Not only do we have to hide from different species trying to enslave us, but the wildlife… it’s quite mad up there. As you can tell… we are not a very big race. Although our tiny forms help us get around a lot quicker and help us hide in better areas. We still have an issue with fighting beasts bigger than us sometimes.- _   
  
-Wow… that does make sense actually. But I heard you were cold blooded creatures… how do you survive in the temperature. I’m sure you dont get the warm from your sun under there.-   
  
Zim smiled and pointed at the crystals on the cave wall.    
_   
_ _ -We use the heat the crystals generate throughout the cavern- _   
  
-They don’t heat with the light of the sun?-   
  
_ -They can but all they really need is light so placing torches next to them help them heat up-  _   
  
Not to mention the small hole they kept open for light from the sun to hit the big crystal in the center of the city to keep it warm in there. But he wasn’t going to tell him that. He was afraid the human would try to go find the hole and sneak in. probably not the best idea since it was a big drop, but then again he didn’t know what this race was capable of.

_ -Oooh. That’s very interesting.-  _   
  
Dib nodded as he noticed the change in Zims clothing. Today he was wearing something that looked a lot more lighter than yesterday.    
  
- _ No bone armor today?- _   
  
Zim looked down at his clothes then back up at Dib as he shook his head softly.    
  
-Oh no. That material is used for hunting. This is normal attire for Irkens. Light fabric is better to breath in and very flexible.-    
  
He smiled as he stood up to show off his outfit. To Dib it gave off a slightly genie vibe. The loose sleeveless sheer top. With matching baggy pants that hugged the ankles with the slit design on the sides that started from the hip and ended at the knee. While his accessories were a range from golden bicep cuffs, chained bracelets that connected to the rings on his fingers and a nice long necklace that dangled with one single tooth charm. Instead of shoes his little two feet were wearing shiny anklets.    
  
Dib hadn’t even seen the feet yet so he was honestly curious about those.They only seemed to have two toes and they were more claws than toes. That was another thing that made this race so cute! Although he did have to admit the attire was very pretty as well. The maroon and golden colors really compliment his green skin and red eyes.    
  
_   
_ _ -I think it’s very beautiful. There’s a similar style to this on my planet as well.-  _ _   
_   
After giving one last twirl to show off his fabric the Irken sat back down and took a look at Dibs clothes as well. He hand’t even bothered to pay attention to that yesterday. It looked so suffocating to Zim and he almost felt bad.    
  
-What are you wearing?-    
  
Dib looked down at his outfit. He was still wearing his body suit for piloting. Probably one of the reasons he was dying in the heat on this planet. But he just took a pretty hard crash and is still waking up this morning. Plus he didnt get time to change before the Irken came back.    
  
_ -This is something I wear when I'm traveling space. This isn't normally what I wear.-  _   
  
He leaned over to reach in his bag for some clothes and pulled out his favorite blue shirt with a small ghost on the front.    
_   
_ _ -I usually like wearing this. When I get comfortable on a planet. I was going to change but… you guys came by.-  _   
  
He chuckled before handing off the shirt to Zim.   
  
The Irkins antennas came down to poke at the fabric as he raised his nonexistent brow at the curious cloth. “It feels so weird~” He chirped to himself. “But it’s so…” Pulling it up to his skin he couldn’t help but nuzzle it and hold it close. “Soft..”    
  
Dib chuckled more and blushed lightly at the adorable Irken nuzzling his clothes. /he’s seen that reaction a few times on other planet too and it still always seemed to amuse him.    
_   
_ _ -Soft?-  _   
  
Zims yes shifted into a bright pink as he realized his aggressive nuzzling and quickly gave it back.    
  
-Uh… y-yes. Very soft. We have similar cloth, but it’s not as soft as that.-    
  
And he thought it smelled quite nice too.But he’d already embarrassed himself enough by nuzzling it so he wasn’t going to add that comment.    
  
_ -I get that quite a lot from other planets surprisingly.-  _   
  
He chuckled.    
  
_ -Anyhow… thank you for the food and for healing my wounds.-  _   
  
He showed off the wounds that already seemed to be getting better.    
_   
_ _ -It’s very interesting how you were able to heal them.-  _ _   
_   
He smiled and stood up.    
  
-What are you going to do now?-    
  
_ -Well I was planning on changing and working on my ship so I can get back home but-- - _   
  
-May I come?-    
  
_ -...you want to come with me to fix my ship?-  _   
  
He asked curiously. They didn’t seem like they lived with advanced technology so it was a little odd, but then again. The other planets were interested in his work too.    
_   
_ _ -I guess. If you want to.-  _   
  
Zim happily hopped up from the floor and waited for dibs direction.    
_   
_ _ -do you think maybe I could… Change first?-  _   
  
-Sure. That’s fine.-    
  
Dib would have awkwardly asked Zim to turn away, but given he’s already been on a similar planet he knew that races that lived this lifestyle never really cared about changing in front of others. So he just did his best to quickly change in his little fabric tent and tossed his suit in his bag.    
  
_ -That feels a lot better-  _   
  
Zim smiled at the sigh of relief before following Dib out to his ship.    
  
-So what exactly was that thing you were playing with when we came in?-   
  
Dib gave the Irkin a confused gaze before an image of his tablet and purifier came up.    
_   
_ _ -Oh the purifier?- _   
  
-Purifier?-    
  
Zim tilted his head as he continued to follow the human towards his ship.    
_   
_ _ -It helps me clean out any toxins out of water or liquid till it’s safe enough for me to drink.-  _   
  
-Oh.. I find that very interesting. Do all humans have that sort of technology?-   
_   
_ _ -Hmm well not exactly like mine, but yes something similar.-  _ _   
_   
‘This being really is intelligent.’ Zim thought to himself as they approached the ship.    
  
-Wow… this is very… strange..-    
  
The Irkin took a few cautious steps toward the ship as his little antennas tilted forward to examine the ship. Irken antennas usually picked up on scent and sound which is why they didn’t really have any ears or noses. They had a slit nub on the face where the nose would be but it was nothing but just a little nub.    
  
While the Irkin examined the ship from a far Dib had circled around the hunk of metal the take a better look at the damage. And honestly it looked a lot worse than he thought. He sighed heavily before peeking inside to see if it would still work. He tapped on the panel a few times to try and turn it on, but got nothing in return. Only sparks and a skipping voice track from the ship.    
  
That did startle the alien a bit as he jumped back a little with a hiss.    
  
“Ah dammit.” Dibs hand came up to rub his face in frustration. Great… what would he do now? It wasn’t exactly safe to play with the ship out in the open with those creatures around. He was already risking his chances right now by trying to turn it on. “Maybe he could check his emergency bag for the video watch he used to have. He wasn’t sure if ti would still connect to his sister and fathers watch, but he could try.    
  
Zim slowly came back towards the ship to slightly tap Dibs arm for his attention.   
  
-Is everything ok?-    
  
_ -Eh. Not really… I won’t be able to fix the ship right now. Especially with that weird creature running around.-  _ _   
_ _   
_ He rubbed his chin and sighed as he tried to think. Maybe he could help them with the creature problem? But how would he even be able to do that? In order for him to attract their attention away he was probably going to need to create a sound louder than anything on a different part of their planet so he could work on his own ship… but he didn’t have anything like that. And it would take forever to get to a different part of their planet without any type of ride. Well… for now he supposed he’d just have to wait and come up with a better idea. 

Maybe if he proved himself as a harmless creature to Irkens as well they’d let him into their city. Not only so he could discover more about their race but to also ask for a little help. Maybe they had something that could help him.    
_   
_ _ -I can’t do much now. I suppose i’ll just have to live in the cave until I can find a way to fix my ship so I can go home..-  _   
  
Zim honestly fet a little relived and happy to hear that. Not to sound like a jerk, but now he could take his time to get to know this human. And when he’s befriended him they could ask him for help! A win win for them both.    
  
  
Just as they were turning back around to head to the cave again a low rumbling noise came from beneath them. Making them both freeze and look at each other.    
  
-Oh no… that must be a graboid…-   
  
_ -Damn. I must have accidentally attracted it by turning on the ship. This thing really has sensitive hearing doesn’t it? Well… what do we do?- _   
  
-...Walk very very slow..-    
  
And so they did. Slowly they walked back and stopped when they heard and felt the rumbling beneath them again.    
  
-Wait..didn’t you come out of the cave? Isn’t that where you’re people are?-   
  
-No. Trust me. I would not take these things near my people. I’d die before letting these things kill any more of us-   
  
Dib nodded and continued to walk slowly with Zim and it looked like they were going to make it! Until his ship had set off a high sound and died again.    
  
‘GOD DAMMIT!’ He shouted angrily in his mind.    
  
The sound had made the creature burst right out from under the ship. Knocking it loose from the ground and sending it flying into the air before falling back down further and rolling away.    
  
Zims eyes widened in fear, but he stood his ground and formed a stance where he was ready to fight.    
  
The screeching was horrifying for the both of then, but they were not prepared to die. So they stood still and kept an eye for the creature as it dove back into the ground and rumbled beneath them again. Where would it come from this time? They didn’t know.   
  
For a few minutes the rumbling stopped and all went quite. Leading them both into a fall sense of security.    
  
Just as Zim had been about to step away the creature had busted out in front of him and threatened to make him lunch.    
  
That was of course until Dib had taken out a hunting knife from his boot and took a good slash out at the monster making it scream and turn towards him.    
  
Zim had quickly rolled away from the scene and pulled out a neat little tube from the best of his pants. He too was ready with his own emergency weapon. His little claw quickly pressed on the small button on the tub to extend it into a sharp hunting staff.    
  
The loading clacking had gotten Dibs attention as the alien threw him the staff.    
  
He struggled with the giant worm for a bit taking a few bites and scratches before finally standing up to stab the staff right the small worm tongue creature in its mouth and yank out. Making the worm bleed out and die.    
  
Zims little chest was rising and falling so quicky as he rushed over to the shaky bloody human falling to the floor.    
  
His little claws could only sign so fast as he tried to make sure the human was ok. He’d risked his own life for him! Dumb thing.    
  
Dib unfortunately had fallen to darkness and wasn't waking up form this so easily like the first time. That was when the little Irken rushed to the tunnel to scream for his servants who were still standing at the end just in case he needed them.    
  
Once they came up Zim had decided he was going to let Dib into the city but it was going to be discreet.Hopefully they’d get him to the doctor on time. 


	4. New King?!

After the two servants carefully laid the human down in his spot Zim had sent them out to harvest the dead rabid carefully. It was good meat and enough to feed their people. And some parts of that sucker could be used for armor. 

While they did that he quickly searched the cave for any little Kurs.  
  
Kurs were similar to moles and were very small. The color of their soft fur ranged from pure white to dusty pink like the sand on the surface, while they had twelve big blue eyes sitting on the cute little face. Normally these babies preferred to bounce and roll around rather than walking. They also usually traveled in groups or as a family and never alone. However Zim himself, along with a few other of his contacts had managed to befriend a family of these furries to become their personal messengers. That was about the only time they ever traveled on their own. If it was a short distance they’d go alone, but on a longer trip they'd at least take one or two more with them.   
  
“Gir!” Zim called out desperately for the little one. “Gir where are you?” His little clicks and worried clacking echoed throughout the cave before a crazy little mole rolled out from behind a bush. 

It crashed at his feet and bounced back with a bit of whiplash as it stood there blankly for a second. After finally coming back to Irk it popped back into a ball and rolled around Zims feet excitedly.   
  
The little crash had made Zim giggle just a little. Even when he was scared or upset that little ball always knew how to lighten the mood. After that thought he quickly reached for a leaf from the small plant life in the cave and picked up some coal from Dibs' worn out fire. Quickly his small claws wrote a quick message and slipped it into Girs mouth. “I need you to deliver this to our medic Unn in the city. Alright?”   
  
The mole squeaked happily before rolling off into the tunnel on his own.   
  
Zim sighed a bit in relief knowing that little thing would get the message to the doctor on time. Normally it would go off track and take longer, but that sweet baby knew when something was urgent. From there he went about his way to do whatever he could on his own until the medic arrived.   
  
Dib had taken a few deep wounds front he creatures large claw like teeth and a few nips the worm thing that lived in its mouth. 

There were various different graboid creatures. The underground monsters looked like giant worms, however not all of them had the same mouth. Some came with huge teeth that looked like claws from a claw machine and would most certainly eat you whole, some had just a big snapping mouth with thousands of sharp teeth, while others had the claw mouth and tongue nipping creature inside.   
  
Lucky for them they got the easiest one to kill with a staff.Well easy for Dib at least. Zim and Irkens in general were fast and strong but not enough to take down a graboid. Three to Four of them couldn’t take one down. Especially the ones that eat a whole person.   
  
The worm had nipped at Dibs old wounds it seemed and the larvae claw teeth had dug into his arm pretty good. There wasn’t any skin exposed or bone, but there was a lot of blood. So Zim quickly stole a piece of fabric from the humans tent and knelled down the wrap his arm tightly. Hopefully he could stop the bleeding. “Stupid creature! Stupid! Stupid creature!” He yelled at the unconscious traveler. “You are a fragile being! Why would you do that? We only just met!” He couldn’t help but let out a small comforting hum for the both of them as he angrily pressed the cloth against the wound. A heavy sigh came as he sat comfortably next to Dib and observed his sleeping face. ‘ _He really is a nice creature isn’t he?’_ The thought had Zim sighing once more but in relief this time.The bleeding seemed to be slowing down as he pressed the fabric a bit more against the wound. While his other claw came to caress a pale cheek. “You silly human… you did not have to save Zim. But you did.” A small smile came to his face as he leaned in to give the soft cheeks a kiss and pulled away. “Thank you.”   
  
“Oooo~ The king loves the human!” Purple's voice echoed with excitement through the cave.   
  
“YAY! NEW KING! NEW KING! NEW KING!” Red chanted and bounced.   
  
Zim turned to glare at the two and growled before streaming out a river of angry chirping and deep throat sounds. “THERE WILL BE NO NEW KING! I WAS ONLY THANKING HIM!YOU TWO NEED TO STOP IMMEDIATELY BEFORE I--”   
  
“King Zim!” A voice from the tunnel cut of the yelling Irken.   
  
He turned to find the owner of the voice. “Unn!”   
  
“Yes. Gir told me you were in need of my assistance so here I a-- oh my. What is this creature?” The medic had big yellow eyes as they came down to take a look over the creature on the floor. “It’s absolutely marvelous! And so tall.” The adoring voice came to a sad awe as they found the wounds on the clean pale skin. “What happened?”   
  
“Well we--”   
  
“He save King Zim!” Red shouted excited.   
  
“Yeah yeah! And he killed the graboid!!” Purple added.   
  
Zim turned to give them a harsh glare again and they both took as a sign to pick up their loot and go.   
  
“We were taking a look at his ship and on the way back a graboid attacked us.” Zim explained a little worried. “It almost killed Zim, but the Dib saved me! And now he’s… he’s hurt. And he hasn’t woken up.”   
  
“Mmm… Well that is a problem isn’t it?” Unn mumbled softly as they examined the wounds and found a few nips pussing up. “Eck...This is new.”   
  
“What?” Zim leaned in to look.   
  
“This looks like venom… Are these creatures venomous now?” Unn was a bit more worried now themselves. It was bad enough these creatures lived in the walls and occasionally fought with them on travel, but now they carry venom? That was no good.   
  
Luckily Unn was not only a medic for the Irkin but other species as well. And that’s from the humble and kind species that would come to visit every few years. They’ve never met a full human before, but they have met a hybrid. Like splices and other species. So they kind of have a general idea of what can and can’t be used for healing humans.   
  
“Venom?!” The king bit his lip and looked away sadly. Feeling a bit sad for the human but warmed by his mindless rescue. He didn’t know about this creature being THAT bad and still chose to save him! And what of his people?! This thing is even more dangerous now!   
  
Unn took out a few things from their medical bag made out of fur and small animal bones. Most medicines they pulled out looked fluorescent as if it came from a glowing plant. Which funny enough it did. It came from a common known flower that lived in the caves. To humans this flower would probably look like a blue stargazer (Lilly), only this one glowed a beautiful bright purple while the petals held a gorgeous blue and white gradient. Extracting any oil from this plant would create a very good medicine that could help the Irkens through any burns and deep wounds. And could also be used in drinks to help them get over a very back illness such as a cold, the flu, or anything in that area. Yes. Even aliens have sicknesses like this as well. 

  
Some other caves usually carried other flowers but luckily this one was one that carried the stargazer and accompanied by Wisteria vines that covered the cave walls. Wisteria vines actually squirmed a bit and wrapped around anything with a warm energy. Usually that plant would be used for meditation oils/drinks or just as a nice perfume. However there were other cave flowers and some that grew around sulfur lakes as well. Most of them looked like the Bat flower, Dracula orchid,Ophyrus, and Jade vines. The Dracula orchid often grows in dark deep caves with Ophyrus by the hot sulfur springs hiding inside. Their petals were toxic to eat or touch. And would normally be used by the Irkens. They would grind the petals down and use the extract to either poison their weapons or their bait.  
  
Jade vines and Bat flowers on the other hand liked to hang out on the surface in the more ‘live’and ‘greener’ area of Irk. Some bits of Irk did have a little green.Mainly moss, trees that either grew fluffy leaves or odd fruits, or bushes full of odd berries.Jade Vines usually released a powder off their petals that could be considered a drug. Some more rebellious species liked to come visit Irk every now and then to steal these flowers to get high. It may have been a trippy plant, but it had good uses too.  
  
Bat flowers on the other hand were just plain beautiful and rare. They came in various colors but the black and purple ones were the best. Their bulbs would come to life and wiggle around as if they were singing in the wind. And they released the most beautiful smell of all.  
  
“A shot of this should help his body relax a bit and heal While I try to remove the venom..” The medic sighed softly as they reached for tools needed.  
  
Zim looked away with a small grunt before getting up to pace back and forth while the doctor worked. “Unn… please. Do not tell anyone. Zim is pleading for your secrecy.”  
  
“Of course. All my patients are confidential. Irken or not.” Unn replied softly. “And if King zim orders to keep him on the low. Unn will listen.”   
  
It was a relief to hear that at least. Now his only problem were the servants.Yes they did swear not to tell anyone and he trusts his little ones, but something like this was sensitive and a bit odd. His people might fear the human and worse him! For keeping this from them! Zim didn’t want his people to hate him! He loved them!  
  
The thought was soon cut off by Unn however, “So.. he saved you yes?”  
  
“...Yes.”  
  
“Hm. Was there any bribery? Anything you told him that we have that he might want?”  
  
The little Irken paused for a moment to think. Was there anything?... “Zim… does not know.”  
  
“..Hm.Then it seems to me he did this by sentiment.”  
  
Zim squinted his eyes at Unn. “What is Unn saying?”  
  
“That perhaps those two empty headed wits might have a point.”  
  
The worried pink orbs shifted into a brighter shade as the Irkens cheeks puffed a bit. “Unn! You two! I’ve only met this poor creature yesterday!”  
  
“Yes. But..” Unn paused for a moment as they finished removing all the venom they could and put a bandage over the new open wound on his chest. “We need another leader. Perhaps one that could… lets say. Kill a creature bigger than us.”  
  
That had the Irkens cheeks deflating and looking away with a small grunt.  
  
“One that could protect us and do the things we can do.” They added as they wrapping Dibs arm and finished cleaning him up before packing their things.  
  
“Zim… Zim knows this.” The king murmured softly. “...Maybe the Dib thing does not need to be my…” He could only finish the sentence with another grunt.  
  
“...But it is the way we’ve always lived my king--”  
  
“Do not try to lecture me on what I already know!” He replied a little more annoyed this time. “I will not force this being to be our protector or a leader. He crashed on our planet! He didn’t come here by will!”  
  
Unn had finally finished packing up and stood up to face the king in time to see the angry face. They brought their hands up in defense and raised their brows. “Okay okay… I understand.”  
  
Zim growled a bit to himself as he glared at Unn annoyed.  
  
“I’m just saying… maybe consider it. It was just an idea… Who knows…”Looking back at Dib with Zim they added. “Maybe he’ll like it here.” Their gaze moved back to Zim. “Maybe he’ll come to love our people as much as you do.”They shrugged. “And maybe.. Just maybe… they’ll love you too.” That last bit had come with a gentle smile. “I mean just look at what he’s already done for you.”  
  
Honestly the king didn’t know what to answer with. Why was everyone making this such a big deal? The Dib only saved his life! Were they doing this for themselves or for Zim?... Was it really time for Zim to mate?  
  
… AH that doesn’t matter at the moment! His people were important! And so was this being.  
  
“So anyways…” Unn sighed as they tried to break the awkward silence beginning to form. “I would like to keep him under watch.So if you could ask your two lovely wits to bring him by my home. It would be much appreciated.”  
  
And almost as if on cue came the two servants clicking and giggling.  
  
“Hey! We heard that!” Purple clacked with a pouted.  
  
“Yeah! Were not wits!!” Red crossed his arms and stuck his slithery tongue out at the medic.  
  
“Of course not~” Unn purred in a playful apologetic tone as they leaned in with a frowny face.  
  
“Hmph.” The two nodded in unison.  
  
“You’re idiots.” With that Unn stood back up with a smile and pushed passed the two.  
  
Before the servants even had a chance to fight the medics Zim had grabbed their attention.  
  
“Purple! Red!.. Please make the hole slightly big enough to fit the human in. We will be transferring him into Unns home for safe watch.”  
  
“AW! What?! Why does the weirdo get to keep the pretty sleeping meat sack!” Purple pouted angrily.  
  
“DO NOT CALL HIM A MEAT SACK!” Zim growled angrily as a slur of deep angry clacks streamed.  
  
That had the two servants quickly turning back to the tunnel to find their chisels and chips away at the tunnel some more for the human.  
  
While Zim only heavily sighed at the two idiots and gave the human one last glance.  
  
‘Zim hopes you get better Dib.’  
  
\-------------------------------  
  
After a while the servants had finally finished their job and came to pick up the human with their king.  
  
“You absolutely can not tell anyone about this… do you understand me?” Zim whispered softly to the both of them as they carefully transferred the human.  
  
“Yeah yeah you already said that before…” They rolled their eyes and nodded annoyed.  
  
“I’m serious. If they hear about this they will be angry and terrified that I kept this from them. They need to be eased into this situation rather than just bring it up!”He replied with deep growls and soft purrs to keep a low quiet tone.  
  
Luckily the transfer was happening during the night time so almost everyone was inside sleeping. Making it easier for them to sneak the human into the city and into Unns home, where they already had a nice room set up for him.  
  
“You may come visit as much as you want.” Unn added as they laid Dib down on a comfortable bed made from thick sticks, a lot of plush fur from plants and animals they’ve harvested in the past.  
  
“Zim thank you Unn.”  
  
“Of course. Anything for your majesty~” Unn bowed playfully and smiled at smaller Irken. Of course Unn was a few inches taller than Zim. In fact the majority of the city was.  
  
“King Zim..” The servants whispered softly. “We looted the graboid like you asked us.” Purples playful attitude has seemed to be over as his tone turned soft.  
  
As well as Reds.”Yeah. Wold you like to see what we got?”  
  
Zim looked at Dib a bit worried.  
  
“He’ll be fine I promise. I’ll send Gir to find you if he wakes up.”  
  
It took the king a few moments to nod at the medic before finally following his servants out the door and into the city once again.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	5. The Overlook

The first of the sights to be seen upon passing through the door was a massive, Irken-mad cavern, with an intricate communal dwelling in the far corner. Clearly the top floor was for the king, but even the lower areas were magnificent and it gave the impression that it had initially been a castle, but the present ruler decided to share. Clearly Zim had a powerful desire to protect his people and return their love in any way he could.

As his gaze continued to wander through, his eyes landed on the large crystal perched just above a stunning lake. It was the heart of the city and provided warmth for all those that dwelt within. Above it was a gaping hole that allowed it to charge on sunlight during the day, and the beams at the hole's aperture seemed to work both as a wildlife shield, and as support for the large boulder that they placed over it at night as defensive shielding.

The next sights to catch his eyes were the unique sulfur falls and their recycling system. The sides of the cavern were lined with the striking phenomenon, and pipes from the glistening pools they emptied seemed to be preventing flooding, and returning the fluid to its source. A sort of recycling if you will. Fascinating.

"This way my King!" An enthusiastic Red led the way for Zim as the unintentional tour had caused them to come close enough to take a look at the unique building methods the Irkens used.

The structures seemed to be mostly clay and brick, while the windows were.....cloudy glass at best. Despite their skill with metal, it didn't seem like they quite had glass down yet. The doors too, were curious. Mostly wood and bone lashed together with rope, but pretty to look at nonetheless. It really did seem like each dwelling's door was unique. There was likely some tradition for families to make them. 

The contrast of old and new was striking, but also very charming. Old structures and relatively new technology mixed to give the feeling of the species being caught between two worlds. One of tradition and culture, and one of advancement. And rather than choosing one or the other, they seemed to have chosen both.

There was just one thing that stood out above all else though. The stairs. Absolutely everything was connected by stairs. The function was two fold really. On one hand, they looked magnificent. On the other, they also allowed the Irkens to passively keep up their core and leg muscles to be able to run longer and squeeze into smaller spaces when the time came.

On the ceiling was also a sight that was a close second to the stairs in shock and awe. Those were the stalactites. Large stone spikes that angled downward like threatening teeth. The Irkens seemed remarkably casual about them though. They couldn't really stop them from forming, and any incidents that came from them falling were so rare that it just wasn't worth the effort it would take to remove them.

“Will the human be ok?” Purple asked curiously as they followed Red.   
  
“I really hope so.” The king replied with a sad gaze towards the floor.

“What happened to it? Did he really save you? And how did he do it?”The purple servant almost had a small gleam in his eye as he leaned in further and further with each question.    
  
As they began to climb the stairs Zim gave his little servant a soft chuckle. They may be a little annoying and cross the line sometimes,but overall their personalities made them quite adorable. “Yes.He did. The graboid almost made Zim lunch.” He shivered at the memory.``But the Dib cut it with its boot blade! And turned it attention away.” His scared frown turned into a soft smile. “Zim rolled away and tossed him the staff.He then proceeded to stop the hideous worm tongue and yanked it out!'' Now the small king was getting a bit excited as well. He was honestly quite impressed with how fast the human had been able to act. Even after being injured! The creature seemed a lot stronger than he was leading on. A bite and like that would have killed anyone else. “Zim is very grateful the Dib stepped in, but also very sad. It could have been killed…”   
  
“Awe.. the king is very loving and caring.” The servant hugged Zim as they continued to walk.   
  
“Zim is also quite scared. Unn thinks the graboids might be venomous now.”   
  
That had Purples smiled fading into a worried gaze. “Will you tell everyone?”   
  
“Zim is not sure. Zim does not want to cause panic. Especially with the Dib being around at the moment.”    
  
Purple groaned at the idea a bit, but respected it.   
  
“Here we are. Finally!” Red turned with an excited smile as he presented a small shop.    
  
“Ah. Skoodges workshop. Red and Purple brought the materials for cleaning yes?   
  
The two nodded happily as Red opened the door for Zim.    
  
“Skoodge does better cleaning than us.” Red followed in after Zim with Purple coming in behind him.    
  
“We did clean the meat though, but now it seems we must clean it a little more for eating.” Purple added.   
  
“King Zim!” a slightly taller being than the king popped out from behind the shop counter. With him came a slam on the table of leather the Graboid skin had made for them.    
  
Zim slightly jumped at the sudden call and sound before taking a few steps closer and looing around his shop. “You changed the shop around I see?” Displayed on the walls were some of Skoodges best works. Armor, weapons, and any tools that could be used for hunting or surviving the wild. He had also seemed to pick up on jewelry making. “Oh my~” A shiny metal and bone necklace caught Zims eye as he came closer to examine, but not touch. Skoodge was a bit iffy on people touching his things. King or not. That was a big no unless you were buying.   
  
“It’s nice isn’t it? I made this one just today.” Skoodge carefully took the necklace off the display mount and held out to Zim to get a better view.    
  
“Zim thinks it is beautiful and you are very good at making these.”   
  
Skoodge offered a friendly smile before placing the necklace back where it was. “Well thank you my king. It means a lot to Skoodge.” After that he turned their attention back to the leather. “So. Skoodge has finished cleaning and tanning half of the hide.” He patted the leather. “The king and his servants had a good hunt I'm assuming?”   
  
“It seems so yes.” Zim played off a friendly smile as he passed the lie. He did not like lying to his people, but right now it was best to do so. "How much do I owe you?" 

"It's ok my king we paid already." The servants smiled happily. 

"Yup. It's all covered. I'll have the rest done for you tomorrow. Would you like me to maybe make some armor out of the second half?" 

"Zim would actually like a new rug." He smiled at the blacksmith. 

"Ooo~ That's new. you haven't asked me for one of those in a while~" Skoodge chuckled. "I'll do my best~ Anything else for you my king?" 

"Zim needs nothing else. Thank you Skoodge." Zim nodded in reply with a friendly smile and made his way out with the servants not far behind.   
  
“So my king… Would you like me to clean the graboid some more and make you dinner?” Purple hoped excitedly.    
  
“Hey I wanna cook this time! That’s not fair, why do you always get to cook?” Red pouted as he slightly shoved Purple.   
  
Zim giggled softly at the bickering and shook his head. “Zim think we should cook together like we did earlier.”   
  
“Is Zim not tired?” Purple tilted his head at the king while he still had a playful smack fight with the other.    
  
“Yes, Zim is tired. But Purple and Red know Zim does not always like being pampered very much.” He did have to admit that it was nice and there were days where he was just a little too tired to do things.So he’d allow it a bit. But normally he did what he could to still make his people feel equal and nothing less. Besides, he really enjoyed being around his servants and still doing work. Sitting in a comfy pillowy fort all day was kind of boring. “Did you not enjoying cooking with me today?”   
  
“Yes!” The two stopped fighting for a moment to jump up a bit with excitement. 

“We didn’t know how good the king was at cooking!” Red swooned slightly.    
  
“Yeah! We normally have to do stuff during the day, so we never get to watch you cook with the others in the kitchen!” Purple added with a slight pout.    
  
“Well then. Zim will have to make room in our day to cook together more often.” Hearing Purples slightly sad tone had the king feeling a bit weak. Maybe they were all doing too much to maintain everyone.Cutting back a little wouldn’t hurt. It was nice to hear that they enjoyed spending time with him. Being this type of leader was much better than power hungry leaders in his opinion.    
  
“Really?!” Purple was slightly bouncing as they continued to cross the bridge back to the castle.    
  
“Yay! Cooking with the king!” Red followed with the same bounce while Zim just smiled and led the way back.    
  
\-------------------------------   
  
The castle up close was much more stunning. The architecture was almost Romanian-like or Greek. Do not let it fool you though. The second floor balcony had quite a sharp arch. The edges waved and curved into layered pointy horns.And the reason behind that was to protect the king. There had been too many animals and corrupted people that have come by to try and kill the king in the past. So they had to take extra precautions. Luckily no one has tried coming after king Zim… or from what he knows at least.    
  
Underneath the second floor was the Arch for the first floor. Which looked a lot less intimidating than the top. Instead it was decorated with shiny metal and small crystals that lit up the steps that led into the entrance. Beside the large opening sat two torches on the left and right to light the way. And as stunning as the exterior was,the interior was as well.    
  
Beyond entering the castle, the first sight to see was a gorgeous romanion/greek like courtyard. On the ceiling was a yawning hole that was wide enough just to let in colorful lighting from the crystals hiding in the walls of the cavern. With the hole came yet another small waterfall that connected to a small water fountain. The fountain sat in a medium sized pool built into the floor. And just as outside the pool had been using the same recycling system.   
  
Around it were stone pillars engraved with beautiful dancing Irkens, Kurs, and flowers. The room had two small spaces that sat across from each other on each the left and right side. On both sides the recycled water seemed to be lightly gliding down the back wall and into little cracks to fall back into the pipes under their ground. And each side had their own colorful sheer curtains.   
  
The walls in the left space were adorned with vines that looked like Cavendishia Grandifolias that were added by the king and kept alive with the water sliding on the wall.They released three small black round berries every five minutes. This berry either tasted bland or sour to Irkens, but they didn’t seem to mind them as they had a bowl on the ends of each blossom, waiting to collect the berries. However the berries were not the only reason the Irkens would enjoy hanging in this spot. There was also a red glowing flower growing on the vines that released a nice golden glittery fume. Irkens normally used this as a legal drug to help their mental health or pain. So in other words this was like marijuana to the aliens. Sometimes they would become addicted to it, but most of them seemed pretty wise in moderation. The fumes would be released when the flower blossomed. This was one of the types of live plants that physically did breathe. Its smooth red petals would go dull as they curled in to inhale and blossomed out with a glow as they exhale the drug. The curtains on this side were normally closed to keep the fumes inside and make them more.    
  
But the right side always kept their curtains open to reveal the comfy plush rug and mounted pillows. This side was decorated with shelves of self care products for Irkens. Make up (but only a limited amount since hunting for plants is a bit dangerous at the moment), lotions, and bath salts (for their baths NOT drug use). In that corner a few Irkens huddled together to sleep and giggle together.    
  
While a few Irkens decided to bathe in the water or just hang around the pool. Whether they were napping, high, or just admiring the fall in awe and relaxing. Sulfur wasn’t really toxic for the Irkens to bathe in or drink so it was definitely ok for them to frolic around in it.    
  
Some of the few little bugs that were awake peeked out to wave or bow to the king. And as always in return Zim gave them his own friendly greeting and gave the groups each a visit to make sure they were ok and safe.   
  
“Are Zims friends safe?”   
_   
_ _ “Yes. King Zim. Thank you for checking. We always enjoy our time here in the castle.” _ _   
_ _   
_ _ “Of course! We always feel safe as long as you’re here to protect us.” _ _   
_ _   
_ _ “Oh yes. We’re doing just fine thank you!” _   
  
The replies from the parties had been quite satisfying to the king as he happily continued down the courtyard to meet with the corridor that led to various different rooms. The bottom floor was mainly made of rooms for more fellow Irkens while the last few rooms by the stairs for the second floor, were for necessities.   
  
Zim headed towards the kitchen on the left at the first step of the stairs and turned to make a comment to his servants before realizing they had disappeared. For a moment he tilted his head confused until he finally spotted them stumbling down the corridor with giggles. Of course those two would stop by for a whiff of the fumes, it was just who they were. “Zim thinks you two don’t have common sense in moderation to the healing drug.”   
  
The two stopped with giggles and looked to the floor with a sad pout. “Sorry…”   
  
“Do not apologize to me. Apologize to yourselves.Zim admits that the drug feels quite nice when overdone, but shall never be done more than once. It can be very damaging if you are not careful with it.” The small leader lectured the two high beings before finally making his way into the kitchen. “Now come. We have food to prepare and cook. Zim is getting quite hungry.”   
  
When entering the kitchen they were met with a brick oven, a small fireplace for bowling in pots or cooking with pans, and a long brick counter top where they prepared the food. On the walls were small shelves of spices, utensilves, and veggies/fruits.   
  
Currently the Graboid meat was nicely organized on a tray and ready to be cleaned very very thoroughly now that they knew it had venom.    
  
Zim dipped his hands in the wash bucket before handling the meat. While the other two split their jobs. Red was to look for good spices while Purple was to pick which fruit or vegetables would go great with the meal. And the king well he obviously was taking care of the meat, which in observation already seemed to be safe. “Zim does not see the venom.”   
  
“Oh yes I removed that myself.” Red replied proudly.   
  
“How do you know what it looked like?”   
  
“It was not hard to find. It was a small nasty sack of green. It didn’t seem right to Red. so I removed it.” He nodded at the others curiosity.    
  
“Zim is very impressed by your gut feelings Red. And very glad you removed it.”    
  
“Thank you my king~” Red smiled happily.    
  
From there their jobs had been a bit easier. Any venom that was left was sure to sizzle away in the pan as they added a small cup of Irken blood wine, green veggies and sweet but salty fruits.    
  
\-----------

  
After putting away what food they had left to spare they served each other plates and climbed the stairs to eat with the king on the balcony.    
  
“The view of our city has always been pretty from up here.” The purple Irken spoke softly.   
  
“I agree.” Red nodded as he followed Red and Zim to stone benches on the edge of the balcony. It was a little scary because there wasn’t much from the bottom arch to shield them from falling. So they would have to be extra careful. Although there had been times when Zim considered putting railing on the edge to keep them from falling, but didn’t because not only would it be a shame to modify the old architecture. It would also ruin the nice aesthetic from the outside.    
  
As they sat down Zims feet slightly dangled on the bench while he held his plate. Taking polite and appropriate bites. He was sort of a role model after all so being polite and clean was something he needed to keep even between friends.    
  
The view of the quiet city had all three of them sighing softly and leaning against each other as they watched the crystals on the walls blink and the glowing sulfur falls and lakes flow so gracefully. “Zim also thinks the view of the city is very beautiful…” He smiled. “Thank you. Both of you. For always being here with Zim.”   
  
“Of course.We will always be with you my king.” Purple softly hummed as he took his last bite and set his plate aside.    
  
“Through better or worse.” Red added setting his plate aside as well.    
  
Before their voices had continued in unison.   
  
“We will forever follow you.” 


End file.
